Fraud and unlicensed money exchange for gambling purposes remained the two main forms of gaming-related crime reported in Macau during the first half this year, with a year-on-year rise in each category. That is according to a Thursday press briefing from Chan Tsz King, the city’s Secretary for Security.
The first six months saw an aggregate of 1,278 gaming-related crimes, up 12.2 percent year-on-year, or 139 more cases than in the prior-year period.
The police services logged 367 gaming-related fraud cases, representing about 28.7 percent of all gaming-related crimes during the January to June period. The tally of first-half gaming-related fraud cases increased by 23.6 percent year-on-year.
Fraud had also been the top category of gaming-related crime in the same period last year. The secretary office’s update did not give a breakdown on forms of fraud involved.
Sit Chong Meng, director of the Macau Judiciary Police, said at Thursday’s briefing that many of the detected gaming-related fraud cases involved individuals who were also engaged in illicit money exchange activities. Mr Sit did not provide further details.
Unlicensed money exchange for gambling purposes – criminalised since October 2024 – accounted for 259 cases in the first half this year, and ranked second for prominence among Macau’s gaming-related crimes. The number of such cases was up 7.9 percent year-on-year.
The investigations into those 259 illicit money exchange cases led to the arrest of 322 individuals, and the seizing of HKD16 million (US$2 million) worth of cash and gaming chips, Mr Sit told in the briefing.
In its Thursday update, the authorities noted that Macau’s Judiciary Police had a joint operation with their counterparts on the Chinese mainland in April.
It was said to have dismantled a “cross-border” criminal group allegedly involved in illicit money exchanges for gambling. The effort resulted in the arrest of 25 individuals and the seizing of HKD5.7-million in cash allegedly derived from such money-exchange activity.
Since 2024, the Macau police units have been on “year-round” joint crackdown actions with mainland public security units that targeted at the “underground banks” and “money laundering” activities from criminal groups engaged in illicit money exchange activities, Mr Sit remarked to the press.
Cases involving illegal lending for gambling purposes totalled 87 in the first half of this year, representing a decrease of 13.9 percent year-on-year. This category is classified by Macau’s security authorities as a “serious” crime affecting public safety.
